Editorials

Recent moves to address water temperatures and other forms of pollution souring Pacific Northwest rivers are both worthy and worrisome.

The Port of Astoria and the city are partnering on a waterfront master plan to shape redevelopment between Pier 1 and the Astoria Bridge in Uniontown.

There are troubling signs of aggression and discord in schools and between students away from school grounds.

In southern Oregon, The Nature Conservancy, the U.S. Forest Service and the Klamath Tribes set up what became one of the nation’s largest outdoor laboratories.

In his first inaugural address, President Abraham Lincoln made an appeal for unity on the eve of the Civil War.

A government agency that acts too highfalutin to provide citizens with straight answers is a risk to democracy. Independents, progressives and conservatives should all be united in fighting un…

A new food tax in Cannon Beach and a bond measure for schools in Knappa are on the November ballot.

The pit at Heritage Square has long been a symbol of the lack of urgency in Astoria redevelopment.

With the completion of splendid restoration work at North Head Lighthouse, attention now should turn to its less visited but far more historic brother at Cape Disappointment.

It’s been joked that a century ago here around the Columbia River estuary, racial diversity consisted of whiter shades of pale — bickering Scandinavian tribes kept in check by smug native-born…

In September, U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced that the Bureau of Land Management is moving back to Washington, D.C., from Grand Junction, Colorado.

For decades, there have been concerns that foreign investors are buying up farmland in the United States.

A national newsletter recently captured a nuance of the coronavirus pandemic. “While much of the nation tiptoes toward normalcy, coronavirus cases are again overloading hospitals in areas with…

During the past few weeks, Capital Press reporter Sierra Dawn McClain took a close look at how food gets from the farm to the grocery store.

The Oregon Legislature has suspended through 2024 the requirement that students show proficiency in reading, writing and math — the aptly named “essential skills” — as a requirement for gettin…

June’s genuinely shocking heat wave wasn’t by itself proof of global warming, any more than one Texas blizzard disproves it. Single events are weather, not climate. And weather is perfectly ca…

The Oregon Legislature missed a chance to give the public better tools to hold the government accountable during disease outbreaks like the coronavirus pandemic.

Diving into annual salmon numbers tells us a lot about these iconic Pacific Northwest fish while raising complex and troubling questions.

Another season, another tragedy on the beach.

Last year, we wrote that the Class of 2020 “does not have an asterisk alongside it.”

Slates of candidates have emerged for the boards at Clatsop Community College and the Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District in the May 18 election.

The biggest surprise about our regional housing shortage is that it took so long to fully materialize.

An overtime bill passed by the Washington Legislature gives producers time to adjust and protects them from backpay lawsuits set in motion by a recent state Supreme Court ruling.

Local experts connected in various ways with salmon fishing and conservation must be ready to blow a gasket over the Washington Legislature’s latest clumsy efforts to “help.”

In crafting his plan for the removal of the dams on the lower Snake River, U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, has managed to forge consensus between farm, shipping and environmental interests on…

The hatefulness and plundering that accompanied the internment of Japanese Americans 80 years ago is our region’s most notorious racist episode in recent times, though bias against Native Amer…

One year after Clatsop County recorded its first coronavirus case, we have learned a lot about epidemiology, risk and public perceptions about science and government.

March 11 marks the 10th anniversary of the historic Japanese earthquake and tsunami, which are still sending ripples across the Pacific in the form of heightened awareness and initiatives to i…

When fishermen encounter bad weather they wait out the blow, anchored in the cove or tied up at the harbor. They are survivors — they don’t take chances when Mother Nature becomes rough.

The Clatsop County Board of Commissioners has adopted a strategic plan to guide policy priorities.

Life in Clatsop County is enriched by a large number of nonprofit organizations. Their impacts range across a wide spectrum, including health and human welfare, the performing arts, history, h…

It is time to right a deep and lingering injustice by formalizing federal legal status for Native American families whose ancestors lived around the mouth of the Columbia River for thousands o…

President Joe Biden has the opportunity for a reset on climate change and infrastructure.

Race is always with us in America. But the terms of our national discussion are constantly changing or evolving. It was said by historians that Barack Obama’s rise to the presidency in 2008 wa…

When the coronavirus pandemic hit, there was no coordinated federal approach on how to handle myriad elements of the crisis. It was left to governors, in conjunction with state legislatures, t…

When many people look back, 2020 will be remembered as the worst year of their lives.

It’s Christmas Eve and we want to wish all our readers, advertisers and staff a “Merry Christmas.”

There’s a commendable focus on racial, ethnic and gender diversity in appointments to the incoming Biden administration, while one characteristic goes unremarked and possibly neglected. That i…

Come with us on a virtual road trip. We’ll start in the Cascade Range near the Willamette Valley and head south on Interstate 5. We’ll stop in towns with names like Detroit, Gates, Blue River,…

Even as climate change deniers in the Trump administration were blocking a reckoning, a new coalition of farm groups and environmentalists was meeting secretly — building a 40-point climate pr…

It’s been said that newspapers are the first rough draft of history. But in many cases, they are the only draft of history. Unless a professional reporter writes down what happened, much of th…

Usually at this time of year, we publish an exhortation to vote.

We’d like to talk about a former secretary of state, Dennis Richardson, before we get into our endorsement of Shemia Fagan for that race in the November election.

Astoria reached a milestone this year by completing the Riverfront Vision Plan.

From police and fire, water and sewer, parks and land use, cities make critical decisions about our everyday lives.

Voters will weigh several statewide ballot measures in the November election.

An open seat in state House District 32 presents us with the most difficult choice on the November ballot.

The Second Amendment protects one of our most fundamental rights.

Many Americans view Congress solely through a partisan political lens, which is why the legislative branch of our government is often the least popular.

Presidential politics can seem distant in our small corner of the Pacific Northwest.

How many U.S. attorneys general can you name? A few Americans may remember Robert F. Kennedy served in his brother’s administration. Fewer may recall John Mitchell, who was eventually imprison…